Matthew 16:18--17:13
16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades
will not overpower it.
16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”
16:20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
First Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
16:21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
16:22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!”
16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”
16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
16:25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
16:26 For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?
16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
16:28 I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The Transfiguration
17:1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them privately up a high mountain.
17:2 And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
17:3 Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him.
17:4 So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!”
17:6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.
17:7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Do not be afraid.”
17:8 When they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone.
17:9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
17:10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?”
17:11 He answered, “Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things.
17:12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”
17:13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.